Week in Review 8-12-24

Week in Review > Week in Review 8-12-24

Posted by Buckeye Association of School Administrators on August 12th, 2024

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Attorney General Dave Yost followed Franklin County Judge Michael Holbrook’s decision upholding HB68 (Click) restricting gender care services for minors and transgender students’ participation in sports Wednesday with a prediction, also previewing Ohio’s first human trafficking hotline. “At the end of the day, I believe Judge Holbrook’s decision will be upheld and HB68 will be the law of the land,” he told reporters outside the 2024 Human Trafficking Summit. Addressing a standing-room-only crowd, Yost said human trafficking awareness has come a long way since his days as Delaware County prosecutor in the early 2000s.

Yost’s office provided closure Thursday to the families of a rape-homicide victim and a rape survivor after a nearly four-decade wait for the culprit’s identity. HE announced that his Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation’s (BCII) Cold Case Unit has identified the late Thomas Collier Jordan of Arizona as the perpetrator.

The Ohio Attorney General’s Office says drugs and cash seized along the busy I-70 corridor in recent days are among the state’s largest on record. Commercial vehicle interdiction by the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) and the Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission (OOCIC)/High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area’s (HIDTA) Major Drug Interdiction Task Force led to the confiscation of 300 pounds of methamphetamine, 17.6 pounds of cocaine and 30 pounds of marijuana in Madison County, with a total value of $14.6 million. Just to the west, authorities stopped a second commercial vehicle believed to be engaged in drug trafficking on Aug. 6, seizing nearly $1 million.

BALLOT ISSUES

The Ohio Supreme Court declined Thursday to speed up deliberations on a lawsuit against Attorney General Dave Yost filed by campaigners behind a constitutional amendment proposal to restrict qualified immunity for certain government employees in cases that allege a civil rights violation. Yost has rejected proposed petitions for the amendment ballot drive several times for various reasons, mostly recently on the grounds that the filing lacked a title. The lawsuit argues Yost keeps changing his justification for blocking the petition even as the campaign group has made changes to address his stated concerns.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced the Ohio Ballot Board will meet on Friday, Aug. 16, to consider ballot language for the Citizens Not Politicians redistricting amendment that will be on the November ballot. The meeting will be at 11 a.m. in the North Hearing Room of the Senate Office Building of the Statehouse. LaRose’s office said the meeting will be chaired by Acting Assistant Secretary of State and former Senate President Larry Obhof, as LaRose will be temporarily out of state on U.S. Army Reserve duty. LaRose recently hired Obhof as chief counsel for the office.

FY24-25 BUDGET

State tax collections reached $2.1 billion in July, the first month of FY25, according to preliminary figures released Thursday by the Office of Budget and Management (OBM). The preliminary information does not include any reported variances from estimates because OBM is working on updating its forecasts in the middle of the biennium. The new forecast is expected to be available in September, OBM Director Kim Murnieks told Hannah News. She said the budget office considers the possibility of an updated forecast at the turnover of every fiscal year but won’t undertake a new forecast when the likely changes would be “immaterial.” “I would say it probably happens at least half the time, and it is likely that we will make an update based on the most recent data that we saw through FY24, both on the revenue side and on the spending side,” she said.

CHILDREN/FAMILIES

Families of transgender children looking to maintain access to gender transition health care services barred by HB68 (Click) are asking the 10th District Court of Appeals to put the law back on hold temporarily while they argue their case. The plaintiffs, families of minors identified in filings by the pseudonyms Grace Goe and Madeline Moe, lost their challenge to HB68 at the trial court level earlier this week. Judge Michael Holbrook of Franklin County Common Pleas Court had issued a restraining order against the law over potential violations of the single subject rule and harm to families denied care, but on Tuesday he dissolved the order and ruled for the state, saying HB68 does not violate the Health Care Freedom amendment to the Ohio Constitution, the single-subject rule nor equal protection provisions of the federal and Ohio constitutions.

EDUCATION

Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (DEW) Director Stephen Dackin Tuesday announced $332,960 in Grow Ohio Grants to support local programs providing agricultural education opportunities for children in 14 communities across the state. Grant recipients will offer activities for children that support farm-to-school projects such as outdoor or indoor school gardening, hydroponics, collaboration with local food producers, and food literacy activities. Many of the awardees plan to incorporate food produced through their programs into school meals. A full list of awardees can be found at https://tinyurl.com/52cnbtbe. More information about the Grow Ohio Grant Program can be found at https://tinyurl.com/2pa2y33p.

The Ohio Traffic Safety Office (OTSO) is introducing a new public awareness campaign to remind drivers about school bus safety traffic laws, focusing on the law that requires drivers to stop for school buses that are picking up or dropping off children. OTSO, a part of the Ohio Department of Public Safety, is making educational materials available for schools, law enforcement and others through a promotion toolkit, with social media content, informational videos and printed materials including a poster, two-sided fact sheet and rack card.

ELECTIONS 2024

A combination of term limits and incumbents’ declining to seek re-election means significant turnover next year for the State Board of Education (SBOE), where sitting members and newcomers have to settle into a narrower role given them by the Ohio General Assembly. Wednesday afternoon was the filing deadline for candidates in nonpartisan races, including the SBOE.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY/STATEHOUSE

Former state Sen. Marigene Valiquette of Toledo died Tuesday, Aug. 6, just 16 days short of her 100^th birthday. Valiquette, a Democrat, was a respected and powerful legislator representing Toledo in both the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate and is the longest serving woman in the history of the Ohio General Assembly, serving 24 consecutive years. She was known for always wearing a red carnation. At one time, she was the only woman in the Ohio Senate. Admired for her debate skills and oratory, she chaired both the Senate Judiciary and Ways and Means committees and served as Senate Democratic Floor Leader and as a member of the Senate Finance and Rules committees.

Sen. Catherine Ingram (D-Cincinnati) described an emerging effort to address Black maternal health care issues as a grassroots one, with “the people providing the services that need to be done.” Ingram said the work she does at the policy level is based on the “real work” done by groups like Mama Certified and Queens Village. The groups’ leaders joined Ingram over Zoom recently to discuss the organization’s successes and growth. Ingram co-chairs the Black Maternal Health Caucus (BMHC), which works with the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus to address systemic issues in the health care system with a focus on Black women and children.

HIGHER EDUCATION

The U.S. Department of Education placed 8 million federal student loan borrowers who were enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan in interest-free forbearance after a federal appeals court temporarily blocked the repayment plan. Two separate Republican-led lawsuits are challenging the SAVE Plan, a cornerstone of President Joe Biden’s efforts to cancel or reduce student loan debt. The program has been the center of a flurry of legal action. However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit sided with Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and five other Republican-led states that asked the court to stop the Biden administration from implementing the SAVE Plan due to ongoing lawsuits, according to the Washington Post. As a result, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona announced that borrowers under the SAVE plan would be placed in interest-free forbearance, meaning payments will not be required but the borrower is also not paying down their loan.

The Ohio Department of Development (DOD) is encouraging Ohio technology companies that are looking for skilled interns to apply to the College Technology Internship Program. The program reimburses companies for two-thirds of intern wages, up to $7,500. Technology companies or those with a technological need are eligible to apply. Internships for this round can occur between Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, and Wednesday, April 30, 2025. Company applications are open now through Friday, Aug. 30. The student application period will open Tuesday, Sept. 3 and run through Friday, Sept. 27. To apply, go to https://tinyurl.com/53y6bt4c.

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

Lt. Gov. Jon Husted told Hannah News Tuesday he does not anticipate the news Intel is cutting its overall workforce by 15 percent to affect the company’s plans for Ohio, saying this is part of a change in Intel’s “entire strategy as it relates to chip making.” Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger announced the workforce reduction plans in a letter on Aug. 1, saying it is part of an effort to deliver $10 billion in cost savings in 2025. The reduction amounts to around 15,000 positions, with the goal to “align our cost structure with our new operating model and fundamentally change the way we operate.”

Husted additionally told reporters he was concerned about marijuana “getting into the hands of children” as adult-use sales began Tuesday. He said state officials will continue making it difficult for that to be marketed to children and he hopes “people will be safe and thoughtful in how they use it.” The comments were made following the ribbon-cutting at Rumpke’s new recycling center in Columbus.

MARIJUANA/HEMP

While national survey results over the last decade have found that current marijuana use among high school students has decreased as a growing number of states have legalized adult-use marijuana — even in high-use legal states like Colorado and California — Ohio school principals remain concerned about youth use of the drug as the Buckeye State implements its adult-use program, according to a report from the Ohio State University (OSU) Drug Policy and Enforcement Center (DEPC). The goal of the study, “Ohio Principals’ Perspectives on How Adult-Use Marijuana May Impact Schools and Students,” was to explore the current issues with student marijuana use in Ohio’s K-12 schools and expected future issues given the legalization of adult-use marijuana.

MENTAL HEALTH

The DeWine administration started soliciting applications Friday for providers who can help establish a statewide system of mobile crisis response for young people in significant behavioral or emotional distress and their families. The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) is looking for applicants to contract as regional providers for mobile response and stabilization services (MRSS). The MRSS services will respond to the needs of people under age 21, and the agency is looking to build out a statewide system serving all 88 counties through this bid solicitation. MRSS is now available in 47 counties, according to the administration. Responses to the request for applications will be due by 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 30. Application details are at https://tinyurl.com/yd56pbpr.

NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF STATE LEGISLATURES (NCSL)

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) convened its annual Legislative Summit this week in Louisville, KY. The event was the largest bipartisan gathering of legislators and legislative staff in the country, according to NCSL’s website. Attendees could access many sessions focusing on the states’ hottest topics of 2024, including artificial intelligence, economic forecast, transportation, workforce development, child care, housing availability and more. Reporters from Hannah News were among those in attendance and provided coverage of key sessions each day. The following are summaries of those sessions covered over the course of the week.

The forum on “AI 101: Understanding the Opportunities and Challenges” was meant to help attendees prepare for other events about the artificial intelligence (AI) technology that has emerged in recent years and its likely effects in the future. It featured Evi Fuelle, global policy director at Credo.AI Corp, which helps companies develop policies on responsible use of AI while complying with new laws and regulations. It was moderated by Robert Rodriguez, Senate majority leader in the Colorado General Assembly. Rodriguez opened by saying there has been a “rapid growth” in AI, which has the potential to affect “various facets” of daily life including employment, transportation, education, health care and housing. The forum focused on definitions of AI and its role in the public and private sectors.

Technological disruptions — from steam engines to word processors to the Internet and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) — are nothing new. The 2023 Future of Jobs report from the World Economic Forum expects a significant churn of millions of jobs globally in industries like supply chain and transportation; media, entertainment and sports; manufacturing; and retail and wholesale of consumer goods. At the panel “Building an AI-Ready Workforce,” Connecticut State Sen. James Maroney said that new technology has always enabled new kinds of jobs. And while he says some jobs will disappear because of AI, that presents the state with the opportunity to be thoughtful with the training opportunities they enable for AI. Maroney said that AI especially jeopardizes jobs like customer service representative or administrative assistant, which are jobs in which less-skilled employees can typically use as gateway jobs to enter an organization and then work their way up. But Maroney also cited a recent Microsoft/LinkedIn report that said 66 percent of companies in the knowledge economy now say they wouldn’t hire someone without generative AI skills and a McKinsey report that said generative AI could increase the wealth gap by $43 billion annually if the technology isn’t rolled out thoughtfully. He called on organizations from governments to nonprofits to academia to work together to permit AI to allow for more equitable opportunities.

States across the U.S. are facing a “crisis” as more Americans drive fuel-efficient vehicles, making the motor fuel tax less reliable every year, according to transportation experts at the NCSL Legislative Summit. “I liken the fuel tax to a rock star on his farewell tour,” said Baruch Feigenbaum, senior managing director of transportation policy at the Reason Foundation. “The fuel tax has been the largest funding mechanism for U.S. highways for the past 100 years,” Feigenbaum continued. “But it’s no longer a reliable funding mechanism because of the increase in electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles and the improving fuel efficiency of conventional vehicles. And those conventional vehicles are by far, right now, the biggest problem.” Feigenbaum was one of several individuals speaking during the session entitled “Running on Empty: Declining Gas Taxes and Options for States.”

The multi-pronged approach necessary to shore up electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure includes ensuring a sufficient number of EV chargers, something that can be a regulatory challenge for multi-family housing. Several NCSL panelists urged legislators to further incentivize workplace charging as an alternative charging option for potential EV users. Alexa Voytek, deputy director of programs, innovation and transportation for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Office, said a vast majority of EV charging occurs at the home — between 80 and 90 percent. “But, as was mentioned, many folks don’t have access to residential charging, or they face … restrictive situations in a multi-family property,” Voytek said.

Voters across the country will weigh in on 5,836 state legislative seats, 11 governorships and 141 ballot issues in November, according to NCSL’s session “2024 State Election Crystal Ball.” NCSL’s Ben Williams and Helen Brewer previewed the state races with Williams saying that of the legislative seats on the ballot, very few chambers are likely to flip parties. Brewer outlined the ballot measures, saying 97 of the 141 ballot measures were legislative referrals. She said the number of measures is not on the low or high ends, but the number has come down from the peaks of 2016 and 2018.

Amid rapid technological changes with the potential to reshape the economy and workforce, panelists at the NCSL summit said America’s education systems need to become more “human-centered” and suggested dramatic shifts are needed to meet upcoming challenges, such as artificial intelligence (AI). The panel, “The Future of Education: Creating a Vision for Excellence,” featured Vicki Phillips, CEO of the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE). She was joined by Ulcca Joshi Hansen, author of the book The Future of Smart: How Our Education System Needs to Change to Help All Young People Thrive. Joshi Hansen has a Ph.D. in neuroscience and human development as well as a law degree in which she studied systems that support education.

As he was working on legislation addressing issues in the juvenile justice system, Kentucky Sen. Whitney Westerfield said he never once talked with someone who had actually been through the state system. It was only after he met people with first-hand experiences that he realized the importance of their input. Westerfield told an NCSL forum that as a legislator from a rural part of Kentucky, he didn’t know what it was like to grow up in parts of Louisville or what it is like to go through the juvenile justice system until he met with Dequantay Smith and Leondrea Johnson, both ambassadors with REFORM Louisville, a group focused on creating more positive opportunities for youth in their community and helping youth return to the community after incarceration. Smith and Johnson joined Westerfield on the panel, “A Candid Conversation about Juvenile Justice” to share their experiences.

When it comes to state legislatures’ using artificial intelligence (AI), there is a sweet spot that lawmakers and their staff need to find to help do their work, an NCSL panel was told. Kae Warnock, a senior policy specialist at NCSL who moderated the panel, said as time goes on, it is not a question of whether it will be used, but how it is used wisely. The panel included Will Clark, a program principal for NCSL, Cody Malloy, information technology manager for the North Dakota Legislative Assembly, and Jeff Ford, the chief technology security officer for the Indiana General Assembly, who discussed their implementation of AI usage policies for their legislatures. Clark gave an overview of the uses of AI by lawmakers and their staff based on surveys by NCSL. The key takeaway from the surveys, which additionally surveyed information technology (IT) staff for state legislatures, is that legislative staff have already begun using AI tools for legislative work, primarily programs such as ChatGPT, as well as transcription tools. They are also beginning to explore new AI functionality in existing applications such as Microsoft Copilot.

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is making cyberattacks faster and less expensive, according to Cait Conley, senior adviser to the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Foreign nation state actors and cybercriminals are already using generative AI to spread disinformation and carry out scams, and elections officials need to be ready to defend against malicious attacks targeting U.S. elections, Conley said during an NCSL session on AI abuses and uses in elections. According to CISA, elections officials should plan for the following examples of AI-enabled attacks on elections: chatbots, voice cloning and AI-generated content such as deepfake videos, among others.

Cybersecurity is an ongoing challenge for state and local governments which cannot be ignored, panelists said at an NCSL forum. They added that federal grants are available to help with initial funding but cannot be relied upon continually. The panel included Texas Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, chair of the Texas House of Representatives’ Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies; Brady Vaughn, director of budget and public affairs at the Texas Department of Information Resources; and Meredith Ward, deputy executive director of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO). It was moderated by Sean McSpaden, principal legislative IT analyst for the Oregon Legislative Assembly. McSpaden opened the discussion by saying ransomware and other cyberattacks threaten the nation’s cybersecurity, infrastructure, economy, public health and safety. The threats and impacts from these attacks seemingly continue to worsen each day for public, private and nonprofit sector organizations across the U.S.

Writing effective laws on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) is extremely difficult because those creating the software don’t even really understand how it works, according to Christian Moriarty, professor of ethics and law at St. Petersburg College. “How do we use, regulate or restrict it if the builders don’t even know how it works?” Moriarty asked during the NCSL session, “Ethical AI Use in the Public Sector.” “A reporter asked AI companies, ‘How does your AI algorithm work?’ And the answer was, “We built it. We trained it. We don’t know what it’s doing,’” Moriarty said.

PENSIONS

State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) Trustee Wade Steen has other means of obtaining the information he desires to defend against a lawsuit seeking his removal, so he cannot depose Attorney General Dave Yost or counsel serving that office for now, a Franklin County judge ruled. Yost filed suit earlier this year against Steen and STRS Board Chair Rudy Fichtenbaum, alleging they breached their fiduciary duty to the system and should be removed. The two trustees have strongly denied the assertion in the lawsuit that they sought to steer a huge chunk of STRS’ assets to a specific firm. The two trustees argue they need to be able to depose Yost to determine the basis for the lawsuit, arguing that outside the litigation realm, the allegations against them would be considered defamatory. Presiding Judge Karen Phipps issued a protective order to block the deposition.